


Hard to Get

by Ce_ba



Category: Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare, Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: M/M, and church is church, basically a first date, catarina is a supportive best friend, i already uploaded this in parts on tumblr, it was fun giving these two new old characters backstory, this is mostly fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-03
Updated: 2016-04-03
Packaged: 2018-05-30 23:51:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6447133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ce_ba/pseuds/Ce_ba
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>"Playing hard to get? I love a challenge."</i>
</p><p> </p><p>Except Magnus isn't hard to get at all. Well, maybe a little. But in the end they are both not quite what they seem, so it doesn't matter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hard to Get

**Author's Note:**

> I uploaded this in pieces on Tumblr over the weeks and would have uploaded it yesterday already, if I hadn't been so busy finishing Lady Midnight. As it stands, here is and AU!Verse Date-Fic for Malec. Because they are adorable.

“Well, I for one think you should just call him,” Catarina said from where she lounged on one of Magnus’ dining room chairs. Her legs straddling the back of the chair, she was hunched forward, watching Magnus with laughing eyes as he paced the room for what felt like the hundredth time.

“And what exactly makes you think he’d appreciate it?,” Magnus replied. He’d gone over the arguments in his head again and again. Then he’d called Catarina, hoping his best friend would tell him that he was right and that someone like Alexander Lightwood could never be seriously interested in Magnus. “You haven’t seen the guy, Cat. He’s just....he’s stunning, and confident, and _way_ out of my league.”

Catarina chuckled and rested her chin on her arms. “Actually I have. When you told me about that party I googled your boyfriend-to-be and he’s très joli, _mon chaton_. So, if you don’t call him, I will set you up with George from urology.”

“I can’t believe you Facebook-stalked him!,” Magnus groaned before throwing himself face first onto the couch. The embroidery of the pillow scratched uncomfortably against his skin, but right now he had worse problems. “I’m not going to go out with either of them, Cat. They’re mundanes anyway. You know my no-mundanes policy.”

Catarina sighed. “I do. Don’t forget your no-magic and your no-fancy-parties policies. Come one, Magnus, a little fun won’t hurt you. He even wants you to call him!”

Magnus mumbled into the pillow, words barely audible, “What makes you think that?”

“He gave you his number,” Catarina said as if it explained everything. To Magnus it didn’t. Alexander had probably just given Magnus the number to be polite and-

“So under what name did you save him? Oh, never mind. Found him. _Lightwood, Alexander._ That’s a new level of boring, even for you Magnus.”

Magnus went rigid, turning slowly to confirm Catarina wasn’t doing what he suspected she was. Blue fingers tapped impatiently against the yellow phone case that was unmistakably his. He jumped up, but it was too late.

Catarina grinned triumphantly as she tossed him his phone. “Get him, tiger.”

Magnus shot her a murderous glance before putting the phone to his ear. It was still dialing, and he half hoped Alexander would be too busy to pick it up.

“Hello?”

“Hello. Hi. Alec. Ah, this is Magnus?” Across the room Catarina rolled her eyes, and Magnus turned around to focus on the call again. “You gave me your number at the Institute’s party and...I’m calling?”

On the other end of the line Alexander chuckled. It was a good chuckle, a nice chuckle. It was the kind of chuckle where the person’s eyes crinkled and Magnus spaced, trying to imagine how it would look on Alexander.

After the chuckle came silence. Magnus started fidgeting with his cardigan. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything?”

There was a smile in Alexander’s voice as he said, “No. I was just waiting for you to tell me why you called. I have some ideas and I’d like to know if I’m right.”

“Right,” Magnus said, turning to Catarina again. “You’re right. I...was wondering if maybe you’d like to go on a date? With me, I mean.”

The silence stretched on forever even though Magnus only counted ten heartbeats. He wondered whether Catarina could hear them before he fully registered Alexander’s words.

“I’d love to.”

“You would? That’s great.” He couldn’t help the smile spreading across his face. Catarina gave him a double thumbs up.

“So when and where are you taking me?”

Magnus had no idea when and where he was taking Alexander as he hadn’t planned further than Alexander even agreeing to his proposal. His hands were starting to shake, and Magnus sank down on the couch before his knees could give in. It felt like there wasn’t enough air in the room for him.

“I was thinking...dinner? Tonight?,” he said, glad his voice still sounded optimistic. When Alexander didn’t protest he added, “I’m not sure of the restaurant yet, so I’ll just...pick you up?”

Magnus silently cursed himself because he’d have to engage in similar stalker-ish activities as Catarina to find out _where_ he would be picking up Alexander. Then he wondered if he should ask Ragnor to borrow the Bastard to pick Alexander up with.

“Tonight’s fine. I’ll text you my address later today,” Alexander said, his voice sounding more and more distracted, “if that’s okay?”

“Sure,” Magnus said, unsure if Alexander’s distractedness had to do with him or if he was just really busy.

“Then I’ll see you at eight. Bye, Magnus.” Alexander’s voice was still smiling, so Magnus hoped for the latter.

“Bye,” he whispered after the line had gone dead. Staring at the phone in his lap he waited for his heart rate to return to normal.

“See, that wasn’t that bad,” Catarina said, wrapping her arms around his neck from behind.

“Right,” Magnus answered. “It was just incredibly stupid. I’m going on an actual _date_ with him.”

* * *

Magnus was ten minutes late, a surprise because he’d been ready half an hour before he had to be at the subway. Then Church had decided he didn’t like his embroidered pillow anymore, and Magnus had missed the train, cleaning up after his cat.

The apartment was on the tenth floor of a glass and steel structure that screamed expensive, and Magnus straightened involuntarily. He’d visited clients in this type of building before, and he would never forget the dirty looks the doormen gave him.

When the elevator arrived on Alexander’s floor the receptionist had already called up, and Magnus found the apartment door open. He knocked before stepping in anyway, unable to not feel like he was intruding. The loft was modern and minimalistic except for an antique bookshelf that made up most of the wall that separated the living room from the kitchen; cardboard boxes littered the room, halfway filled with books, comics, and clothes, while the rest lay scattered across the room.

“Blue or green tie?,” Alexander asked.

Magnus turned to find him standing in the doorway of his bedroom. He was impeccably dressed like last time, hair combed neatly to the side and suit hugging his shoulders comfortably but tight. Raising one eyebrow questioningly, he held the ties out to Magnus.

Magnus gave his date another once over, hoping it would have at least part of the effect on Alexander as he had on Magnus before saying, “No tie at all.”

Magnus was no fashion expert but he’d decided not to wear a tie because it would be too formal. Alexander seemed agree.

“Good choice,” he said, pointing at Magnus before disappearing inside the bedroom again.

Magnus looked back at the cardboard boxes. “Are you moving out?”

He silently cursed himself for his bluntness, but Alexander was wearing a smile when he came back a minute later, hair a little more tousled than before. “My sister is moving in with her boyfriend.” He looked disdainfully on the mess that was his apartment. “I’m happy for them but I hope they’ll be done soon, so I can find my things again. Shall we?”

Magnus smiled and nodded, following Alexander outside and down the hall. They were halfway into the elevator when his mouth ran away from him again. “I, uh, hope you don’t mind taking the subway? I mean, we can take a cab if you’d rather do that. I just thought we might get stuck in traffic and then we’d be late for dinner. That’s why I didn’t get the Bastard from Ragnor. It’s his car, we call it the Bastard.”

Alexander gave him an open mouthed stare, almost forgetting to step out of the elevator car. Magnus led them into the lobby, and when he turned around again Alexander had put a smile on.

“I love taking the subway. Mom would let us do it sometimes, I can’t believe other people do it all the time. I always felt so mundane when doing it.”  
Magnus wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that, so he grimaced a smile at Alexander and started toward the station. His date followed him with hurried steps.

“I’m so sorry,” Alexander said when he caught up with Magnus. “I probably just sounded like a bratty snob. I try so hard not to be, but sometimes I slip up, I’m sorry.” Someone yelled at Alexander for not watching where he went, and Magnus turned to find him staring at him. When Alexander saw Magnus looking he started downstairs to the station again. “And now I’m just talking about myself again. I’m sorry.”

Magnus put a hand out, partly to stop Alexander from running into a woman with grocery bags hurrying past them. “Don’t apologize, I didn’t take it personally.”

He wished he could have because it would have meant he was just another mundane. Instead it just made him sad. Alexander seemed great and Magnus didn’t want this to become just a fling. He _wanted_ to listen to Alexander talk about himself, _wanted_ to get to know him, to fall in love with him. Living for so long, Magnus had come to recognize the heat that was in his chest right now: affection. He should have stopped Catarina when he had the chance, hung up on Alexander, and made an ass of himself, because it would have saved him from the hurt that was to come. Now all he could do was not let Catarina live this down when it ended.

“Magnus?”

He blinked and shook his head. “Sorry, I spaced. I just thought of how a friend of mine once said you should only apologize when you’re about to murder someone.”

Alexander chuckled and Magnus smiled. With Alexander two steps further down than him they were almost the same height, and Magnus resisted the urge to kiss him.

Over the cacophony of the crowd around them he heard a train pull into the station. Choosing it as an excuse to take Alexander’s hand, he pulled his date toward the platform. “Come on, that could be our train.”

On the way to the restaurant Alexander made Magnus tell the story of how the Bastard came to be the Bastard, a task made harder by the fact that it involved vampires and magic to some degree, both of which Alexander was to know nothing of, but Magnus managed. In the end he reduced it to the car constantly dying on Raphael (though it had been Ragnor’s doing to make a weird undead joke) and Raphael cussing at the car so much that it got a new nickname. Alexander seemed to find it funny regardless. Magnus savored the sound of his laugh and the feeling of the shaking body of the mundane in the seat next to him.

The train ride ended far too early and Alexander’s laughter carried them upstairs again. There Alexander launched into the story of how Clary (Magnus hadn't known Clary was friends with Alexander) gave him a painting for his birthday because Simon, his sister’s boyfriend and Clary’s best friend, had somehow convinced her that Alec was big on collecting art (it was books). It was the only piece Alexander had hanging in his apartment. Magnus had seen it but he couldn’t remember what it looked like.

The little Italian place Magnus had picked was a mundane establishment with some Downworlder staff, which was the main reason Magnus had picked it. Mundanes and Downworlders didn’t mingle often, and Magnus belonged to those who kept to their own more often than not. Sometimes he wished he could be more like Catarina and feel comfortable around just mundanes.

Alexander seemed happy about Magnus choice and scanned the menu with vigor.

“I haven’t eaten anything but an apple all day,” he explained when he saw Magnus studying him. “Three clients, all wanting their stuff done by tomorrow, so I had to sacrifice my lunch break.” He shook his head.

Magnus gave up studying the menu. “You could have said no if you’re swamped with work.”

Alexander put his menu down too. “Are you kidding? I’m mostly done and the last week has been stressful enough with the Institute party. Cute boy asks me out on a date, I don’t say no.”

Halfway to an open mouthed stare Magnus could feel his lips tug into a smile. His cheeks didn’t burn, but the pull in his chest was enough. The arrival of their waiter saved him from doing something spectacularly stupid. Alexander ordered a complex sounding pasta dish and a salad while Magnus named the only thing from the menu he could remember and hoped he hadn't chosen too badly. The werewolf left and the moment was gone.

While they waited for their food Magnus told Alexander the story of a particularly strange client (he left out that she was a seelie) who had asked him for help with some spell of sorts. Even Magnus actual magic didn’t have the desired effect, so he could tell Alexander most of what had truly happened. Then Alexander took over the conversation, talking about the marketing concept for a lube he had to do a few weeks ago, in Magnus opinion an inappropriate topic for a first date, but he found he didn’t mind, because it was Alexander, and the story had a funny punchline. From there on he somehow managed to transition to the story of how his little brother had shattered an antique vase as he tried to recreate a scene from a movie.

When he got to the part where his mother found out Magnus and Alexander were both laughing too hard to swallow properly, and Magnus almost choked on his food. Alexander’s face fell, and he leaned over the table, immediately asking if Magnus was alright. It took several assurances on Magnus part for Alexander to continue the story.

Apparently Maryse was more than a little enraged and compared the vase-incident to the one time she had caught Alexander and Isabelle going through her closet and trying things on. That, Alexander insisted, had been totally unwarranted, because all he had destroyed was any hope his mother had that her son was straight. Magnus must have stared rather wide eyed, because Alexander laughed and added that his parents had a nice closet but he had never had any intention of staying in one for too long.

Magnus tried to regain control over his facial features, but Alexander didn’t look convinced.

“I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable,” he said after a pause. His plate was clean, so he kept rearranging the cutlery. “Were....uh, were your parents very upset?”

Magnus tried to hold Alexander’s shifting eyes. “They’re dead.” Alexander’s mouth formed a soft ‘o’. “It’s..it’s been a long time ago and we didn’t have the best relationship, so it’s okay. They never found out.”

Alexander nodded slowly, clearly not satisfied with the answer. Again the waiter saved Magnus, choosing that moment to take their plates and ask whether they wanted dessert.

“I’m not really a dessert type.”

Magnus grinned, hoping Alexander would catch on. “Me neither. We’ll just have the check then.” When the waiter was gone he added, “Look, Alexander, it's okay. I’m-”

A small smile was starting to play on Alexander’s face again. “It’s Alec. You keep saying Alexander, but you can call me Alec, everyone does.”

Magnus shifted, the name tasting new and intimate on his tongue. “Okay… Alec. You don’t have to feel sorry about my parents. The people who I care about support me, and that is all that matters.”

He nodded, smile back. Taking a moment to appreciate Alec’s pretty face, Magnus completely missed the waiter bringing the check. Alec paid, and Magnus decided it was not worth it to complain. He could just pay the next time or something.

Next time. It was such an unexpected thought, but Magnus knew he wanted to see Alec again, badly. The urge spread through him, tense and unwelcome. He wasn't quite sure what he'd expected when he'd given into Catarina's begging, but it wasn't this. Magnus hoped there was going to be a next time, but the hope tasted stale.

Emptying his glass, he led Alec outside.

“Do you live a long way from here?” Alec peered into the dark streets like he’d seen them for the first time and they held an interesting secret. The thought that Alec might have the Sight came unwanted to Magnus. He checked the glamor on his eyes hastily, but Alec didn’t seem to have noticed anything, just turned back to Magnus with a big grin and a cocked eyebrow.

Magnus found himself grinning back. “Just a few blocks.”

“Good,” Alec said, and then he was so close that Magnus could feel his breath on his cheek. Slipping his hand into Magnus’ with impossible speed he continued, “Lead the way.”

For a second Magnus wasn’t sure what to do with Alec’s warm fingers in his, with the feeling of Alec’s pulse beating right beside Magnus’, and with the soft pressure of Alec’s palm against his. He couldn’t remember the last time he had just held hands with somebody and his heart rate sped up. Next time didn't seem such a distant possibility anymore.

He started pulling Alec toward his apartment, first unsure of what he was even doing, then settling into a slower, comfortable pace. Alec’s long legs caught up with him quickly, and soon they were walking shoulder to shoulder. Next time.

Magnus started talking without giving his mouth permission, about the people that mattered, about how Catarina tried to set him up again and again because he was too seclusive, about how he was starting to think she was right, Alec’s soft chuckling impossibly close to his ear compelling him on. Next time.

The buoyant feeling lasted until they reached the brownstone where Magnus realized that their date was over. He didn’t want to let go of Alec’s hand yet. Alec followed him up the stairs, his body warm and close and _present._ Next time.

Magnus fumbled a little with the key, trying to buy them more time, to have Alec there just a moment longer. The _click_ echoed through the hallway, drowning out the sounds of their breathing. There was a hand on his elbow, and Magnus turned around. Then there was Alec’s face in his, eyes large and black in the dim light, swallowing Magnus, so easy to get lost in them; hot breath ghosted over Magnus cheek, sending shivers down his spine; Alec’s hand was still holding on, not wanting to let go yet either.

Magnus angled his face, and then there were Alec’s lips on his, slow and patient, taking their time to sync to Magnus’ while pressing closer together. Alec’s forehead pressed against his, arms slipping around Magnus’ waist, pushing their hips together, balancing against the door. It gave way behind them, and the part of Magnus that wasn’t busy kissing Alec prepared itself for a stumble that never came.

He broke the kiss, tracing the shadows on Alec’s face with his eyes, wondering about the strong arms that held him up. One of Alec’s hands slid lower, pulling Magnus against him, and Magnus complied, locking his legs behind Alec’s back before folding himself closer around him.

Magnus didn’t know how Alec found the couch, but there were soft pillows under him by the time Alec’s mouth had found Magnus’ jaw, teeth scrapping against it. Alec’s weight rested on him comfortably, hands dipping the pillows on either side of Magnus, and Magnus’ hands scrambled for purchase in Alec’s shirt. Finding the lapels of Alec’s jacket he moved to push it off his shoulders.

With an urgent kiss Alec shifted them into a sitting position and eased out of the jacket. Magnus let his hands follow it, down Alec’s shoulders and the small of his back. Alec sighed softly into his mouth, followed by his tongue.

Magnus’ hands found his chest again, tugging at the collar of the shirt before unbuttoning it. Alec’s hands slipped under Magnus jacket, roaming his chest, yanking the shirt out of the pants, making Magnus moan with the contact. Their mouths lost each other again, Alec’s moving down Magnus’ neck, short puffy breaths raising goosebumps on Magnus skin.

Alec’s head came to rest on Magnus’ shoulder. He was laughing.

Magnus followed his gaze, unable to suppress the chuckle that forced it’s way up his throat: A few feet from them a very pissed off looking Church was staring up at them, his glare more intense than any cat’s had the right to be.

“I didn’t know you had a cat,” Alec whispered before slipping from Magnus’ lap. He sat down in front of Church, offering his hand. “Hello, sir. My name is Alec, I’m very glad you let me go on a date with...your owner. Sir.”

Church looked unimpressed at Alec and then his hand. Without a sound he got up and stalked away, leaving Alec to look after him. “He doesn’t seem to approve.”

“He’s always like that, don't worry. We only have a problem if the Chairman disapproves, and him not being here is a good sign.”

Magnus used the moment to pull his jacket off, before sliding down and joining Alec on the floor. He put his arms around the other, resting his head on Alec’s shoulder.

“Are you going to stay the night?”

Alec turned his head at the sound of his voice and Magnus used their position to run his mouth over Alec’s cheek. He could feel Alec speak under his lips.

“Seems like it.”

Something light tearing his heart apart, he almost forgot to kiss the smiling corner of Alec’s mouth.


End file.
